Preview: UFC 318 ‘Holloway vs. Poirier 3’

Lightweights

Daniel Zellhuber (15-2, 3-2 UFC) vs. Michael Johnson (23-19, 15-15 UFC)

BETTING ODDS: Zellhuber (-500), Johnson (+380)

Zellhuber was one of the more interesting talents on the 2021 edition of Dana White’s Contender Series. A young fighter out of Mexico who was undefeated at the time, “Golden Boy” shined as a sharp boxer who took advantage of his impressive height and reach for the division. That made Zellhuber’s UFC debut, which saw him get neutralized by Trey Ogden, a major disappointment, but from there, he was able to rebound with a series of scrappy wins. Those victories mostly followed the same blueprint, with Zellhuber needing about a round to figure out his reads and his range before taking the fight over, but he steadily progressed—and showed off some impressive grappling in his back pocket—up until a prominent spot on the UFC 306 card at the Sphere in September. Zellhuber and Esteban Ribovics provided the clear highlight of the night. The fight was following Zellhuber’s usual script up until the point that Ribovics charged back in the third round, resulting in a back-and-forth war that was one of the best fights of the year. Ribovics nailed down the narrow victory. Injuries have meant that Zellhuber has taken 10 months to follow that performance, but Johnson should be another fun dance partner for the Mexican prospect.



Johnson is nearing the 15-year mark with the UFC and is now about a decade removed from his peak, when his striking game finally clicked into place enough to take advantage of his impressive hand speed. With time, the book eventually got out that Johnson was a frontrunner who would crumble under consistent adversity—particularly against anyone looking to press a consistent wrestling attack—but he still remained one of the most dangerous strikers in the sport during his roughest stretches, as evidenced by a brutal 2016 knockout of Dustin Poirier sandwiched in between a run of five losses. Now nearing 40 years old, Johnson has added enough caution and defense to his approach that it now takes a bit more effort to get him to completely implode, and even as he slows down, he still has some fast hands that can score a knockout once he has felt out his opponent. This looks like the right matchup for Johnson to hang tough in, as Zellhuber is unlikely to turn to wrestling and isn’t a one-shot knockout threat who can take the Kill Cliff Fight Club rep off his game, so the expectation is that this should start slow but eventually turn into an entertainingly violent striking match. While this matchup has some forgiving points for Johnson, it’s hard not to favor Zellhuber’s advantages in terms of size and youth, particularly since he also appears durable enough to eat the American’s offense. The pick is Zellhuber via decision.

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Holloway vs. Poirier
Kopylov vs. Costa
Holland vs. Rodriguez
Ige vs. Freire
Zellhuber vs. Johnson
The Prelims